BIO - BENJAMIN PHILLIPS PORTER - CAMP COUNTY - By Donnie F Porter
Dec 2, 1804 - Feb 19, 1862
Benjamin Phillips Porter was born in Petersburg, GA as were his brother Orren Wilcox Porter and his sister Caroline. At the time Petersburg, a tobacco boom town, was the third largest town in Georgia behind Savannah and Augusta. As a young boy of about five years of age he moved with his parents to the newly formed county of Lincoln in the state of Tennessee. There another sister, Susan, and brother Isaac Sylvester were born.
In the words of his son John Samuel Corley Porter, Benjamin "grew to manhood in Lincoln County of that state." In the records of Lincoln County, TN he is referred to as both Benjamin Porter, Jr. and Benjamin P. Porter. He was the administrator of his father's estate which he settled 1829-1834, apparently coming back from his new home in Marshall County, Mississippi to finalize it.
Benjamin Phillips Porter was the son of Benjamin Porter and his wife Elizabeth Casey Porter. His father was baptized at the First Congregational Church of East Hartford, CT March 20, 1763 and died in Lincoln County, TN in December 1828. His mother, born in VA in 1778 and died in 1857 in TX, was a daughter of Roderick Casey, an immigrant from Limerick, Ireland.
His middle name, Phillips, honors his paternal grandmother Elizabeth "Betty" (Phillips) Porter (1753-1786), wife of Benjamin Porter, Sr. (1730-1806) of East Hartford, CT.
Benjamin P. Porter married Dorothy Alsobrook, daughter of John Alsobrook, in 1832 in Lincoln County, TN after which they moved to Marshall County, MS. From there he moved his family to Shelbyville, TX in the spring of 1839. His move that year qualified him for a 1280 acre headright on the Cherokee Trace in Upshur County (that portion later becoming Camp County, TX) to which the family moved in the year 1850.
In September 1861 his son Hezekiah S. Porter joined the 10th Texas Calvary Regiment. About January of 1862 word came to the family that Hezekiah Porter was very sick. Benjamin immediately set out for their camp in Arkansas. When he arrived he found his son Hezekiah "well and hearty" having recovered from a case of the measles. Benjamin spent a few days in camp with his son. Reassured, he set out for home comforted by the knowledge that Hezekiah was healthy.
Unknown to Hezekiah, as his father Benjamin traveled home he became ill. Stopping at the house of his friend Major Houghton, about eight miles from his own home, Benjamin sent for his family. His wife Dorothy and two of the girls went immediately to see him but on February 19, 1862, before the rest of the family could arrive, Benjamin Phillips Porter died. When his son's unit took up the march, after one day's travel Hezekiah relapsed. He lingered until March 6th then died near the old Clear Springs Church in Clark County, AR. There he was laid to rest. Both father and son died within two weeks of each other and each believed the other to be alive.
Benjamin P. Porter was buried in the family cemetery located directly across the Cherokee Trace from their pioneer Texas homestead.
Benjamin and Dorothy were the parents of Elizabeth N., Caroline M., Martha M., Susan E., Hezekiah S., John S.C., Sarah, Dorothy A., Robert O., Mattie, Louisa, Cora J., and Benjamin F. Porter.
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